History Main / Ubermensch

* Khan Noonien Singh from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' (and of course TheMovie ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]''. From Website/TheOtherWiki: Professor William J. Devlin and co-author Shai Biderman examined Khan's character compared to the Übermensch and found that Khan's blind pursuit of revenge is in fact against Nietzsche's ideals of transcendence and self-creation of a meaningful life. Instead, the authors offer Spock's self-sacrifice in ''The Wrath of Khan'' as a better example of the Übermensch.
* Omar Little from ''Series/TheWire'', a criminal who preys only on other criminals in strict adherence to his own personal "code". Also a BadassLongcoat who happens to be gay. He is also the only character in that series who makes it a point not to swear, and his use of language is idiosyncratic only to himself. There are very slight hints during Bird's trial that he may have been inspired to adopt that personality during middle school, although the prequels show him displaying the same traits at a very young age.

%%zce* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'', Galatea [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/227 identifies herself]] as a post-human Übermensch. As of this writing, though, it looks like she may be growing disenchanted with the idea and gaining some sense of humility.

* Website/SCPFoundation: A curious example is that of [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/ethics-committee-orientation the Ethics Committee]], which is considered by the rest of the members of the Foundation as a joke and a useless organization, but in reality it is perhaps the most powerful group within the organization, since that they know ''everything'' the Foundation does, and it is they who authorize or not any of its actions. In short, it is a committee whose members must establish new parameters of what is right and what is wrong, all in order to protect Humanity, thus becoming -- without wanting it -- Übermenschen.

* PlayedForLaughs with the [[MemeticMutation Sigma Grindset memes]]. Though the way it's presented, a "sigma male" is someone who plays by their own rules. However, as the memes show, these "rules" are absolutely absurd, ranging from WordSaladHumor to BlackComedy.

* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', Mal, from what we've seen, seems to be one who lost his will to keep trying. He has his own set of morals, he's very charismatic (as we see with him dealing with the crew, especially when he was about to space Jayne). He had belief in a way to make the 'verse better, but the Alliance beat the side he was with.

* Magneto from ''ComicBook/XMen'', as written by Creator/ChrisClaremont. He actually describes himself as one in a supplemental story.

* ''Anime/RingingBell'' has Wolf as the Übermensch and the sheep as the Last Man. Chirin starts out as a member of the Last Man and tries to become Übermensch under Wolf's tutelage. [[spoiler: He fails, and becomes a straw nihilist instead]].

* ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' features John Galt. The Last Man would be Robert Stadler, who allows his research and good name to be appropriated by [[StrawCharacter Strawman Political]] interests.

* Leto Atreides II from ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', fits this trope even more than his father, taking his father's Übermensch qualities to their logical end [[spoiler:by essentially becoming [[GodEmperor a god]]]].

* ''Literature/InConquestBorn'' provides an interesting case. It revolves around a pair of archrival generals on opposite sides of a war. ProudWarriorRaceGuy Zatar comes from a culture essentially created to forge its nobility into Übermenschen. The other, Anzha, is the wunderkind of an experimental psychic program. Throughout the series, Zatar is actively trying to be an Übermensch, outsting his father, making very public displays of going beyond human limits, etc. while Anzha is much more singlemindedly committed to her goal (destroying Zatar's whole race for killing her family), in the process she almost incidentally realizes a stronger form of psychic practice and uses it to enslave her teachers, revolutionizes faster-than-light combat, infiltrates and manipulates two other societies, and ''awakens the hidden psychic talents of her enemy Zatar''. At that point, it becomes apparent that she was the real Übermensch all along: Zatar was trying to be one in the tradition of his society, while Anzha rejected all other values and as such has been able to cope with her abnormally strong abilities while Zatar is destroyed by them.
* Drizzt Do'Urden from ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'' [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch rejects]] the ways of his AlwaysChaoticEvil dark elf people to follow what his own heart tells him is right. He holds onto his ideals in spite of extreme adversity and even though it takes years for him to find a place in the world even after leaving his homeland. He also disdains the idea of venerating a god until pointed to the interpretation that the gods represent mortals' ''own'' inner ideals. His ideals are, of course, on the extreme nice end of the scale, conventionally acceptable (though [[IncorruptiblePurePureness extremely idealistic]]) by the norms of a human society, but considering where he started out, they are definitely his own. Drizzt is, of course, TheFettered.

* The eponymous superhuman mutant from ''Literature/OddJohn''.

%%* Hannibal Lecter of ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', arguably.%%
* The Sith philosophy as elaborated in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', even though it actually represents the conventional morality for the Sith, basically calls for its adherents to become the Übermensch -- which is seen as involving giving in to TheDarkSide and becoming TheUnfettered. Its ideas seem to be based on the corruption of the Dark Side and thus be delusional, but it sometimes seems those who ''really'' achieve the goal of becoming the Übermensch are so good at being evil that for them the illusion becomes reality, and they have no weakness. [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Revan]] is a good example of a Sith Übermensch -- immensely charismatic, the best at ''everything'', and seemingly able to keep from slipping so far into the Dark Side it would destroy him or even compromise his rationality while embracing its corruption fully. Even more so, there is the Sith'ari, a prophesized "perfect being" by Sith standards. In ''Literature/DarthBane: The Path of Destruction'', [[spoiler:Bane gradually becomes the Sith'ari, first simply learning by harsh experience to think he can trust no-one but himself, then gradually absorbing more of the Sith philosophy and the Dark Side until he becomes completely unhindered by human emotions such as compassion and any sane moral code, though he is still entirely dedicated to upholding the purity of the Sith. He also fulfills the very Übermensch-appropriate role of the Sith'ari in prophecy of making the Sith stronger by destroying them; his Last Man is the entire Sith order at that point, and especially its leader Lord Kaan, who have sought to eliminate conflict from the order by making it one of apparent equals; the very opposite of what Bane believes to be the nature of the Sith. Darth Bane hands Kaan an intangible ArtifactOfDoom that he knows will destroy all the Sith when they try to use it in their final stand against the Jedi, and before the dust that was once hundreds of Sith and Jedi has settled, goes out to look for an [[BastardUnderstudy apprentice]] to apply his new RuleOfTwo with]].
* Valentine Michael Smith in ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'', who's also a MessianicArchetype.

* Lestat de Lioncourt from ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'' is another good example.

** Kamina is a heroic example of this. He ignores all conventional morality and designs his own value set that throws aside the self-complacency of the world around him (the fact that the old values literally collapsed the moment the roof of the village did also helped). He never actually tries to lead anyone, his charisma is just so intense that he leads by example without trying. He claims his intent is to break through heaven and not just change his own destiny, [[ScrewDestiny but to entirely destroy the idea of "destiny."]] In the end, the entire universe ends up following his lead. Also, he actually is quite antisocial -- he never actually tries to make friends with anyone, he's a [[JerkWithAHeartofGold complete jerk]].

* Both incarnations of ''ComicBook/{{Azrael}}'' count as this, though the [[SplitPersonality men under their respective masks may differ]].

** A rare heroic example is Batman himself. He has his own code and, in most adaptations, only [[ThouShaltNotKill one rule]]. ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' informs us that Gotham was once a place where law and order had given up (read: traditional morality has collapsed), and Batman has repeatedly recruited and mentored fledgling superheros (converting others to his ideals). By contrast, the Joker is a StrawNihilist. An agent of chaos even in more campy versions, he has no code, no purpose in society and no sense of hierarchy, so he'll kill just about anyone for no reason. Spending a month ''acquainted'' with him will drive you insane, if poor Harley is any indication. This is actually the key focus of ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''.

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Doctor Doom, a genius who runs his own nation and believes in no authority but that of '''[[ThirdPersonPerson DOOM]]'''. His willpower is so absurdly strong that he was able to resist the Purple Man (whose power is to make anyone do whatever he wants) at point-blank range when the guy's abilities had been augmented to planetary scale. His biggest weakness is [[TheResenter his crippling desire to prove his superiority over Reed Richards]] -- rather like Luthor and ComicBook/{{Superman}}, Reed isn't interested in proving anything.

* ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'' can be interpreted as either as an Übermensch, a Last Man, or possibly a bit of both, based on the last few episodes where his silly and lazy façade shows some cracks. Either he is an intelligent Übermensch who adopts a CloudCuckoolander ObfuscatingStupidity personality in order to [[RuleAbidingRebel rebel against authority]] and live his life the way he wants to but cares about people and will protect his crew; or he is an juvenile Last Man who realizes that he is just a nobody and refuses to take his responsibilities seriously because of apathy, fear, and/or depression, and hides it all by being a StepfordSmiler. The truth is probably somewhere between those two extremes.

** Protagonist Monkey D. "Straw Hat" Luffy is a FriendlyPirate [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything refuses to follow the typical code]] of regular {{pirate}}s, a code that revolves around pirating for treasure rather than your dreams, and does not harm civilians and steal. On one occasion, this even gets him ridiculed and beaten, but [[DoomedMoralVictor he still stands strong by his beliefs.]]

* The Major from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''. He has the antisocial behavior, presenting himself as a cheerfully sadistic fat man. And when questioned by Integra on what his goals are, he replies; "To put it into the simplest possible terms Fraulein, our purpose... is a total absence of purpose". His love of war serves its purpose as a twisted value; he even says that he loves war regardless of which side is winning. As for moral restraints, when conversing with Doc, he says that while the prospect of becoming a vampire is enticing, (as he could go one fighting forever) he refuses, wishing to remain human and retain his sense of self.
* ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'' can be interpreted as either as an Übermensch, a Last Man, or possibly a bit of both, based on the last few episodes where his silly and lazy facade shows some cracks. Either he is an intelligent Übermensch who adopts a CloudCuckoolander ObfuscatingStupidity personality in order to [[RuleAbidingRebel rebel against authority]] and live his life the way he wants to but cares about people and will protect his crew; or he is an juvenile Last Man who realizes that he is just a nobody and refuses to take his responsibilities seriously because of apathy, fear, and/or depression, and hides it all by being a StepfordSmiler. The truth is probably somewhere between those two extremes.
* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', being the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and influenced by fiction about Nazis and their influences like Nietzsche, most of the main cast reject the norms of society to pursue their own ambition, each in their own original way. Even when they are following others, they are, in doing so, following themselves. Ryuko Matoi will stand up to absolutely anyone and lives by her own code. So does Satsuki Kiryuin, who'll unabashedly do whatever it takes to achieve her ambition, and look awesome while doing it. Ragyo Kiryuin makes long speeches about embracing [[HumansAreBastards sin being the defining trait of humanity]]. Ira Gamagoori embraces conventional rules and codes with absolute passion even when [[ApatheticCitizens no one else will]]. The Mankanshoku do whatever the hell they want at any time without shame or inhibition, with special mention to Mako Mankanshoku, who lives in her own planet. While some of these characters can be manipulated or bribed or charmed into Last-Man-ity, there's always another character whose personal strength and charisma inspires them to be faithful to themselves.

This was a person, or for us, a character, who rejects the norms of society ("slave morality") and lives by his own created and unique code of morals, [[EvilVirtues virtues]] or laws. They are often portrayed as megalomaniacal villains with [[AGodAmI God complexes]] out to remake Human Civilization InTheirOwnImage (see also: the DarkMessiah), but sometimes, they can also be heroes -- in fact, HeroicWillpower is one of Nietzsche's main criteria for qualifying as a Übermensch. Depending upon [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the character's role in the story]] and [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism how cynical the story is]], the Übermensch may be characterised as either TheFettered or TheUnfettered.

* Lelouch Lamperouge, Schneizel and Emperor Charles in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' are all examples, having their own ideas of how to supplant the status quo with their own ideals. The status of Lelouch as a Übermensch could be in question due to the two of his first motivations being resentment and pity (two qualities Nietzsche detracted), but that doesn't mean he is the Last Man. Instead, The Last Man are the masses who are content with Britannian policies and prefer to live in slavery rather than take action. E.g. the Japanese guy who gets beaten up by an aristocrat and doesn't even think of fighting back. Or those faux-Japanese gangsters on whom Lelouch abuses his Geass in ''R2''. Perhaps the most obvious example would be from the very first episode, after Kallen's truck crashes and Britannians(!) all around just stand there, take pictures with their cellphones, and lazily ask if someone called an ambulance. And cheer passively when a single person (guess who?) actually gets down there to help the driver.

* ''Manga/ChoujinX'': Ely Otta is a rare heroic example. The series contains several deliberate allusions to Nietzsche, yet Ely seems to be the character who most fits the Nietzschen ideal of the {{Ubermensch}}; Ely's morality is entirely based on her personal code, with society's values simply not mattering to her. Now it should be noted that Ely's values are not ''contradictory'' to conventional morality, but merely that her worldview was developed independently of society's values. Ely's ideology largely revolves around her belief that everything, even people's lives, intrinsically belong to the Earth and that people are merely "borrowing" their lifespans. She rejects the existence of any forces greater than the earth and seems particularly bothered by those who try to use religion as a justification for their actions. This mindset was actually [[ShownTheirWork promoted by Nietzsche himself]], writing in ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'':

* [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]], Schneizel and Emperor Charles in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' are all examples, having their own ideas of how to supplant the status quo with their own ideals. The status of Lelouch as a Übermensch could be in question due to the two of his first motivations being resentment and pity (two qualities Nietzsche detracted), but that doesn't mean he is the Last Man. Instead, The Last Man are the masses who are content with Britannian policies and prefer to live in slavery rather than take action. E.g. the Japanese guy who gets beaten up by an aristocrat and doesn't even think of fighting back. Or those faux-Japanese gangsters on whom Lelouch abuses his Geass in ''R2''. Perhaps the most obvious example would be from the very first episode, after Kallen's truck crashes and Britannians(!) all around just stand there, take pictures with their cellphones, and lazily ask if someone called an ambulance. And cheer passively when a single person (guess who?) actually gets down there to help the driver.

** [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] is both a textbook example and a deconstruction. He is exceptionally smart, the envy of his classmates, and could conceivably accomplish anything he set his mind to. WordOfGod states that, without the Death Note, Light would've become a renowned member of Interpol, solving crimes across the world along with L. He clearly knows it too. However, when he actually gets the means to put himself above the common man and dictate the fate of the world, he immediately turns into a mass-murderer with a [[AGodAmI godhood complex]] who ultimately [[spoiler:dies pathetically]]. The obvious message to take away from the story of Light Yagami is that no matter how brilliant or competent you are, you are not exempt from common morality, or even human error.

* [[Characters/DexterDexterMorgan Dexter Morgan]] from ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' evolves into one of these by necessity. He can't obey normal laws of morality because of his "dark passenger," so he must follow his unique "Laws of Harry," which place him above the likes of common murderers, who live by no code at all. Furthermore, the "Laws of Harry" were handed down from his adoptive father, but he has learned that he needs to evolve them and make them his own. The interesting thing about Dexter is that he actually regresses as an overman. As the show progresses he becomes more attached to the people around him, and more concerned with normal social problems.

* Phaeton in ''WesternAnimation/{{Exosquad}}'', before he [[VillainousBreakdown loses the last bits of his dignity]] later in the second season.

* [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraZaheer Zaheer]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' is a good candidate, he is an admirer of the culture of air nomads and much of his philosophy is inspired by that of an airbender monk, yet he has rejected the pacifism of air nomads and has become an WellIntentionedExtremist who believes that the world will only know true freedom if all hierarchy and authority figure is abolished, even if it is through violence.

* Winston Smith in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' is the Last Man in Europe, due to his primary motivation being hedonism with freedom and enlightenment added in, yet still doesn't carry enough Will to Power to stick to his individuality [[spoiler:and overcome {{Room 101}}]]. [[spoiler:Heck, he even chooses to love Big Brother because it's the greater of two pleasures, which is against the Übermensch concept]]. But the actual "Übermensch" in the book is disputed. Maybe it's Big Brother (who ironically is the God of the book), maybe it's the Party as a whole with their BlueAndOrangeMorality and their obsession with the Will To Power, but Inner Party member O'Brien in particular, as an individual, is less of a Übermensch and more of a StrawNihilist, since he believes that the only vision of the future is "a boot stamping on a human face forever".
* ''Literature/TheBible'': {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}s of Satan also include the Übermensch archetype. One such Satan is the Satan from ''Literature/ParadiseLost''. After all, tis better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. Probably.
* Judge Holden from Creator/CormacMcCarthy's ''Literature/BloodMeridian'' is a deconstruction of the concept, showing just how frightening an Übermensch can be if acting as the antagonist of a story.
* David Wingrove's ''Literature/ChungKuo'' has Howard deVore, who wants to destroy the empire so that history can continue and the übermensch can appear. Either naturally or by design.

* Raskolnikov from Creator/FyodorDostoevsky's ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'' is a VillainProtagonist who wants to be an Übermensch, and spends most of the book wondering if he is one or not. It is perhaps worth noting that the novel was published before ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' and that Raskolnikov considers Napoleon to be the archetypical Übermensch, showing that the idea at the very least predates Nietzsche.
* Leto Atreides II from ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', fits this trope even more than his father, taking his father's Übermensch qualities to their logical end [[spoiler:by essentially becoming [[GodEmperor a god]] ]].hat the idea at the very least predates Nietzsche.
* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Commander Samuel Vimes of Ankh-Morpork. He is intensely charismatic, albeit in a rough and straightforward way, has helped change the city into the relatively stable metropolis it is now, and strictly follows his own code of ethics. As one character says in ''Night Watch'', "In a world where we all move in curves he proceeds in a straight line. And going straight in a world of curves makes things happen."

** Surely Vetinari is a better Übermensch than Vimes? Indeed, he (and Captain Carrot, who may or may not be another contender, though he is more of a catalyst for change) rescued Sam from his fate as a Last Man by encouraging and promoting him to take charge of all policing in the city-state, and creating his modern police force. Vetinari himself is the capable leader whose reign is characterised this and a number of other revolutionary ideas, many orchestrated by him (like an efficient post office).

* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'', [[spoiler: Senna Wales]] has some definite traits of this, notably including strong loner/antisocial tendencies and a reliance on her own code, rather than other's notions of morality. Oh, and she wants to [[TakeOverTheWorld overthrow all the powers of Everworld and turn it into her own personal universe]] to rule over as a DimensionLord.
* Salvor Hardin from Isaac Asimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'' claims that "one should never let morality prevent one from doing what is right".
* In John Gardener's ''Literature/{{Grendel}}'', a PerspectiveFlip of ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'', Beowulf himself is one of these. Unferth also tries to be one but can't quite manage it.
* In ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'', Kurtz pretty well fits this.

* C.S. Friedman's ''Literature/InConquestBorn'' provides an interesting case. It revolves around a pair of archrival generals on opposite sides of a war. ProudWarriorRaceGuy Zatar comes from a culture essentially created to forge its nobility into Übermenschen. The other, Anzha, is the wunderkind of an experimental psychic program. Throughout the series, Zatar is actively trying to be an Übermensch, outsting his father, making very public displays of going beyond human limits, etc. while Anzha is much more singlemindedly committed to her goal (destroying Zatar's whole race for killing her family), in the process she almost incidentally realizes a stronger form of psychic practice and uses it to enslave her teachers, revolutionizes faster-than-light combat, infiltrates and manipulates two other societies, and ''awakens the hidden psychic talents of her enemy Zatar''. At that point, it becomes apparent that she was the real Übermensch all along: Zatar was trying to be one in the tradition of his society, while Anzha rejected all other values and as such has been able to cope with her abnormally strong abilities while Zatar is destroyed by them.
* R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch rejects]] the ways of his AlwaysChaoticEvil dark elf people to follow what his own heart tells him is right. He holds onto his ideals in spite of extreme adversity and even though it takes years for him to find a place in the world even after leaving his homeland. He also disdains the idea of venerating a god until pointed to the interpretation that the gods represent mortals' ''own'' inner ideals. His ideals are, of course, on the extreme nice end of the scale, conventionally acceptable (though [[IncorruptiblePurePureness extremely idealistic]]) by the norms of a human society, but considering where he started out, they are definitely his own. Drizzt is, of course, TheFettered.

* In ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' several characters display Übermensch traits. The most obvious example is Karsa.
* For a man whose inhuman charisma draws otherwise sane men to follow him to his own obsessive goal, there's Captain Ahab from ''Literature/MobyDick.''
* The vampire artist Mikhail Efimov in Creator/OlegDivov 's ''Literature/NightWatcher'' has some pretensions about this, being a more literal version of StrawNihilist; he claims that "proper" vampires (the ones that drink blood and receive, among other things, dramatically enhanced senses -- and, at least according to Mikhail, emotions and understanding), or the Nocturnals as he likes to call them, are so far above mere humans in every regard as to be justified in doing whatever they want to them, as human lives are so drab and pathetic compared to those of Nocturnals as to be "less than a parody". He also has some things to say about the worldview and way of life of perfect beings, which seems pretty close to this trope. Mikhail tries to position Igor Dolinsky, [[TheFettered a vampire that has successfully resisted his bloodthirst]], as the Last Man, but Dolinsky is quick to point out that the Nocturnals tend to degenerate into mindless animals within a few years if they even live that long; eventually Mikhail realizes that Igor is right and turns himself in for an experimental treatment, though he doesn't abandon his rhetoric to the end, [[ShutUpHannibal leading to]] [[BreakTheHaughty some humiliating moments]] at the hands of the local vampire hunters.
* ''Literature/OddJohn,'' the superhuman mutant from the Olaf Stapledon novel of that name.
* Creator/AynRand liked this trope.
** ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' features John Galt. The Last Man would be Robert Stadler, who allows his research and good name to be appropriated by StrawmanPolitical interests.
** Howard Roark in ''The Fountainhead''. His progress as an architect is contrasted with that of Peter Keating, who becomes an abject sell-out. Rand also {{deconstruct|ion}}s [[TheThemeParkVersion the most commonly held popular interpretation]] of Nietzsche's philosophy through the character of Gail Wynand (whether or not this most common interpretation is a correct one is another subject entirely).
* Wolf Larsen from ''Literature/TheSeaWolf'' by Jack London.
* Anasarimbor Kellhus from ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'', as well as all the rest of the Danyain.
* [[MadArtist Reiner Grossvogel]] from Creator/ThomasLigotti's novella ''Literature/TheShadowTheDarkness'' is a relentless deconstruction of this trope. [[TheUnfettered In as few words as possible, he does exactly what he must as an "efficient organism."]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality There is no other priority.]]
* ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'': Holmes could fit here according to [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Some]] mostly due to his ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight attitude, that has driven him to break the law in several occasions and seeing it as a viable way to solve a case. Watson used to object to this behaviour but later he encouraged it and demanded to go along.

* The Sith philosophy as elaborated in the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse, even though it actually represents the conventional morality for the Sith, basically calls for its adherents to become the Übermensch -- which is seen as involving giving in to the DarkSide and becoming TheUnfettered. Its ideas seem to be based on the corruption of the Dark Side and thus be delusional, but it sometimes seems those who ''really'' achieve the goal of becoming the Übermensch are so good at being evil that for them the illusion becomes reality, and they have no weakness. [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Revan]] is a good example of a Sith Übermensch -- immensely charismatic, the best at ''everything'', and seemingly able to keep from slipping so far into the Dark Side it would destroy him or even compromise his rationality while embracing its corruption fully. Even more so, there is the Sith'ari, a prophesized "perfect being" by Sith standards. In ''Darth Bane: The Path of Destruction'', [[spoiler: Bane gradually becomes the Sith'ari, first simply learning by harsh experience to think he can trust no-one but himself, then gradually absorbing more of the Sith philosophy and the Dark Side until he becomes completely unhindered by human emotions such as compassion and any sane moral code, though he is still entirely dedicated to upholding the purity of the Sith. He also fulfills the very Übermensch-appropriate role of the Sith'ari in prophecy of making the Sith stronger by destroying them; his Last Man is the entire Sith order at that point, and especially its leader Lord Kaan, who have sought to eliminate conflict from the order by making it one of apparent equals; the very opposite of what Bane believes to be the nature of the Sith. Darth Bane hands Kaan an intangible ArtifactOfDoom that he knows will destroy all the Sith when they try to use it in their final stand against the Jedi, and before the dust that was once hundreds of Sith and Jedi has settled, goes out to look for an [[BastardUnderstudy apprentice]] to apply his new RuleOfTwo with.]]
* Valentine Michael Smith in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'', who was also a MessianicArchetype.
* This is the attitude of Literature/TheSupervillainySaga protagonist, Gary Karkofsky a.k.a Merciless: The Supervillain without Mercy. He rejects the morality of superheroes while maintains his own personal morality in place of it when dealing with both the government as well as supervillains. Played with as he still identifies as a religious Jew but fully acknowledges, "I am a terrible one." His unpredictability beyond his own values has made him a WildCard in his world.

* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Warhammer 40000'' ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novel ''False Gods'', Magnus the Red is determined to study the warp and gain power, because
-->''[[AboveGoodAndEvil Notions of good and evil]] fell by the wayside next to such power as dwelled in the warp, for they were [[GoodIsOldFashioned the antiquated concepts]] of a religious society, long cast aside.''

* Dexter from ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' evolves into one of these by necessity. He can't obey normal laws of morality because of his "dark passenger," so he must follow his unique "Laws of Harry," which place him above the likes of common murderers, who live by no code at all. Furthermore, the "Laws of Harry" were handed down from his adoptive father, but he has learned that he needs to evolve them and make them his own. The interesting thing about Dexter is that he actually regresses as an overman. As the show progresses he becomes more attached to the people around him, and more concerned with normal social problems.

* Lelouch, Schneizel and Emperor Charles in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' are all examples, having their own ideas of how to supplant the status quo with their own ideals. The status of Lelouch as a Übermensch could be in question due to the two of his first motivations being resentment and pity (two qualities Nietzsche detracted), but that doesn't mean he is the Last Man. Instead, The Last Man are the masses who are content with Britannian policies and prefer to live in slavery rather than take action. E.g. the Japanese guy who gets beaten up by an aristocrat and doesn't even think of fighting back. Or those faux-Japanese gangsters on whom Lelouch abuses his Geass in ''R2''. Perhaps the most obvious example would be from the very first episode, after Kallen's truck crashes and Britannians(!) all around just stand there, take pictures with their cellphones, and lazily ask if someone called an ambulance. And cheer passively when a single person (guess who?) actually gets down there to help the driver.

** Light Yagami is both a textbook example and a deconstruction. He is exceptionally smart, the envy of his classmates, and could conceivably accomplish anything he set his mind to. WordOfGod states that, without the Death Note, Light would've become a renowned member of Interpol, solving crimes across the world along with L. He clearly knows it too. However, when he actually gets the means to put himself above the common man and dictate the fate of the world, he immediately turns into a mass-murderer with a [[AGodAmI godhood complex]] who ultimately [[spoiler:dies pathetically]]. The obvious message to take away from the story of Light Yagami is that no matter how brilliant or competent you are, you are not exempt from common morality, or even human error.

* Ironic considering [[PropagandaHero his origins]] and [[CaptainPatriotic general theme]], but ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is a heroic example, and something of a deliberate {{Reconstruction}} of the idea come modern incarnations. Cap was originally written to be straight pro-American war propaganda -- a noble, loyal SuperSoldier fighting for America to help kick UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's ass, [[GoodCounterpart turning the Nazis' views of racial and "genetic" superiority onto themselves]] -- but following a period of dormancy and being revived in The60s as part of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', the character became more defined as [[FishOutOfTemporalWater a man out of his own time]], one who often questions the concept of loyalty to [[BadPresent an ever-changing country and government whose morals have generally become quite jaded and controversial]]. As a result, Steve Rogers has increasingly become less defined as a militaristic pawn of the US government (a dynamic which has itself become the basis of several explicitly anti-heroic {{foil}}s like US Agent) and more of what he decides to be America's ''ideals'' -- [[TheCape that of being compassionate, intuitive, trustworthy, adaptable, and just]]. As he famously quotes in ''Daredevil: ComicBook/BornAgain'', Captain America is loyal to nothing "except The Dream."

** Protagonist Monkey D. "Straw Hat" Luffy is a FriendlyPirate [[The
IratesWhoDontDoAnything refuses to follow the typical code]] of regular {{pirate}s, a code that revolves around pirating for treasure rather than your dreams, and does not harm civilians and steal. On one occasion, this even gets him ridiculed and beaten, but [[DoomedMoralVictor he still stands strong by his beliefs.]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Blackbeard is a brutal, [[AboveGoodAndEvil amoral]] pirate who wants to rule the world through his superhuman strength and [[AffablyEvil gives inspiring speeches about the power of dreams and fate]]. It is implied that most pirates live by their own code, and because of that they're called pirates.